So I''ve decided to give Fedora a try, since I''d really like to have more of a desktop installation of linux rather than my current Slackware-based sytsem which is great, but requires a bit more manual maintenance. Does the Red Hat update software that comes with it update the entire distro whenever they release new versions? Or does it only update specific packages? Also, what does everybody think about Fedora? I never was a huge fan of Red Hat, but I''ve heard a lot of good about Fedora, and hence I''m trying it out. I figure it''s either that or Mandrake (which I don''t want to use for a few reasons) or SuSE (which I don''t want to use because I''d have to FTP install rather than dowloading ISOs). Otherwise, if Fedora turns out to not be too great for me, I may end up going back to Gentoo, which I used for a while and really liked, minus the exhorbitant compile times for certain software (which is made worse by the fact that my computer is getting quite dated). That''s enough rambling... http://chaos.webhop.org

you could always try ''swaret'' (apt-get like tool) on slack...

Well as it is now, I use slapt-get, but the slapt-get repositories don''t really hold a lot of packages, so I still often need to download from source many times.

http://chaos.webhop.org

...or you could just go the whole hog and just use Debian . Being where apt came from and all...

I''ll vouch for Fedora. Got it loaded on another partition and it works good for me. Been using it a lot the last couple of nights as a desktop just for the mere eye candy of gnome + themes. Install is pretty easy, probably just like any other Redhat installer you may have tried. Since you are aware of slapt-get or emerge and whatever debian uses, you''ll be familair with the same concept of upgrading packages. Just change the name to ''yum'' and you basically have the same package installer. yum upgrade. yum install gaim.

As for the upgrades, I couldn''t tell you. I usually just download the new isos and burn them and wipe out the drive with a fresh install. The joys of not having a production box.

Bottom line is that I''ve been happy with it both in the aspect of applications and support. Since it is pretty much RedHat you can use RedHat docs and applications, which there are plenty of.

I''d rather not use Debian... I don''t know why, I''d just rather not. I''ve used it before and like it, but I like Gentoo better for whatever reason... Mostly just the style of how things are laid out, I guess (you know, the distro-specific stuff).

http://chaos.webhop.org

Why not use Gentoo then?

-Luctus
Statisticly seen, most things happens to other people.
[Mail]

For the reason I already mentioned: My machine is getting to be on the older side, and I don''t want to have to wait for compiles on larger pieces of software.

http://chaos.webhop.org

Sorry, missed that. But again, if you don''t like compiling packages. Why not use Gentoo binary packages?

-Luctus
Statisticly seen, most things happens to other people.
[Mail]

quote: Original post by Luctus
Sorry, missed that. But again, if you don''t like compiling packages. Why not use Gentoo binary packages?

Gentoo''s support for binary packages beyond the initial install is still fairly experimental. AFAIK, you can''t get official binaries outside of the install CD sets, so you can''t keep up to date at all.